The Highest-Yielding Dividends That Are Safe to Hold

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) is one of the nation’s largest energy companies with operations throughout the globe. Chevron reported more than $220 billion in operating revenue last year, with earnings exceeding $21 billion, and cash from operations surpassing $35 billion. Its dividend payments totaled $7.5 billion. The highly profitable company has benefited from a growing U.S. energy industry. With the rise of unconventional drilling, the company has announced plans to expand its production in Texas’s oil-rich Permian shale, and it is also active in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale, which is a major source of natural gas. The dividend yield of Chevron shares is currently 3.5%, and it looks as though Chevron has the means to keep increasing its dividend for years.

Shares of Kraft Foods Group Inc. (NASDAQ: KRFT) — owner of well-known American brands such as Jell-O, Kool-Aid, and Planters — currently yield 3.6%. According to Morningstar, the average dividend yield among Kraft’s peers is far lower at 2.2%. The company earned $2.7 billion and paid $1.2 billion in dividends last year. Unlike many other companies with high-yielding and reliable dividends, Kraft Foods is technically a very young company. It was formed in 2012 when Kraft Foods split its grocery business from its snack food operations, now called Mondelez International.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) provides consumer packaged goods through a variety of consumer-facing retail outlets such as drugstores and grocery chains. The company has increased its annual dividend each year in the past 58 years. P&G returned $12.5 billion to shareholders last year. With both dividends and share repurchases, shareholders received 110% of the company’s earnings in 2013. Its dividend payout ratio is only about 61% for 2014. However, the company has struggled with less than stellar sales growth and slumping returns in recent years, and it brought back former CEO A.G. Lafley last year to help boost growth. Currently, the company’s shares yield 3.2%. P&G currently has a massive $220 billion market cap, which dominates its peer group.